The Gathering Storm
by tokara2132
Summary: After given orders to find possible ninja spies from the Hidden Cloud Village, Naruto and the rest of Team Seven are pulled into a world of intrigue and revolution as war is declared and a new village is founded. Part Two.
1. New Orders

**Fan Fiction Name: **The Gathering Storm

**Chapter Name:** New Orders

**Info:** After given orders to find possible ninja spies from the Hidden Cloud Village, Naruto and the rest of Team Seven are pulled into a world of intrigue and revolution as war is declared and a new village is founded.

**Disclaimers: **Narutoand the rest of the known characters are not my creations The rest, OC's all, are mine (or, rather, mine and my sisters, who came up with the blind one. You'll see what I mean.) All mine! Hahahahahahahahacoughsputterwheeze Give me a second…

**Chapter One: New Orders**

The hot summer days of the Village Hidden in the Leaves (or Konohagakure, for those who were familiar with the Old Language) often wilt the hardiest of plants and the most resilient of workers. Some move their business inside while others cover themselves in light colors in order to stave off the heat. It was a day that made the Fire Nation lives up to its scorching name. Yet today was a day that would not dampen the spirits of one orange clad-blonde, regardless of the amount of sweat was now soaking into his brightly colored jumpsuit.

Well, maybe just a little.

"Why is it so damn HOT?" Uzumaki Naruto yelled loudly, as if questioning the suns intentions of that day. His face, normally clad in a big grin, showed his misery at the excessive heat and sweltering humidity. He was finding refuge under the cooling shade of his favorite ramen stand, Ichiraku Ramen. He was there with his former teacher and current father figure, one Umino Iruka.

"It's summer, Naruto. You should expect it to be hot," Iruka said as he happily slurped his ramen. Naruto just groaned again and began slurping his own bowl (or rather, his fifth) as he dejectedly looked around again. It had been a boring couple of days since Tsunade had taken the mantle of Hokage. Hell, he had been lying in his own damn bed for days now, recovering from his fight with Kabuto ever since he came back (Hokages orders his ass! Tsunade-obachan was the best medic-nin in all of Konoha!). Now that he was out, the weather decided to be uncooperative and miserable.

There went any sort of fun that he had planned.

Damn it! Why was this place the Fire Nation? Why wasn't it the "Nice and Cool during summer" nation instead? Wasn't there some sort of mission that Tsunade-obachan that she could give him to get him out of here?

Wasn't there anything that Kakashi-sensei could do that could alleviate this boredom?

A hand on Narutos shoulder shakes him out of his thoughts. As he turned to face the interloper on his thoughts (and ramen eating), his thoughts screech to a halt when he saw Kakashi-sensei. It was almost as if he had used a Kuchiyose no Jutsu to summon some fun. Naruto smiled happily, his grin stretching from one ear to another.

"Don't smile like that. You look idiotic," Kakashi said in his normal bored drawl. Naruto scowled back at the comment, before Kakashi cleared his throat and continued. "Tomorrow we're going on a mission. Meet you all at the Hokage Tower at seven o'clock." With that, Kakashi disappeared in a flash of smoke. Iruka gave Naruto a questioning look. Naruto just flashed a smile, and hollered for another bowl of ramen. Iruka just shook his head. Sometimes Naruto was so much like his old self it was scary. It was like the way he was with Kouta-sensei all those years ago, when Iruka was a genin.

- - - - -

Seven o'clock was nearly unreasonable for someone like Naruto, who wasn't near what you would call a morning person. He had gotten up just fifteen minutes before he had to meet Kakashi-sensei, and in a rush he had accidentally spoiled toothpaste on his jacket, tripped over something in his apartment, and had ran to the Hokage Tower at full sprint, running into and hitting numerous people along the way as he managed to make it to the Tower in time. Once he got there he saw that the Uchiha prodigy (sometimes, Naruto was convinced the definition for "prodigy" was "pain in the ass") and the ever pretty Haruno Sakura (who was amiably chatting and hanging off of the said prodigy) were already there. One piece of this puzzle was missing.

Kakashi-sensei was not there yet.

Silently fuming at the ever tardy jounin, particularly for getting his ass up at such an unreasonable time, Naruto found a place to sit at the base of the wall, opposite Sasuke-teme. But now Naruto was silently kicking himself for believing Kakashi-sensei. Why the hell did he have to be so gullible at times? Here he was, nodding off on the wall at seven o'clock in the morning, when Kakashi-sensei was most likely sleeping his lazy ass in a nice warm bed…with a comfortable pillow…and…

Naruto nodded off again, but before long someone was shaking him awake. He opened a bleary eye to see Kakashi-sensei there in front of him. What caught Narutos attention more then his tardy sensei was Sasuke-teme and the fact that he was scowling right at Naruto. Naruto glared back, but then Naruto was knocked out of it by Kakashi.

"Come on. We have a mission."

The chunin waved them through to the main missions' room, where Tsunade stood. Naruto instantly lit up at seeing the newest Hokage. Tsunade smiled back. It was definitely a happy moment if Naruto ever knew one. So, it was only a matter of time, in true Naruto fashion, that he would somehow kill it. Tsunade knew this, and she silently counted down the seconds to that exact moment.

"What's our important mission, Tsunade-obachan?"

There it is. Tsunade knew she would have won SO much money from Jiraiya if she had bet him right then. Tsunades brow began twitching madly, and before the Hokage could angrily break her desk over Narutos head, Kakashi forcibly pushed them into the office and had them sit down at the seats given.

"So, what is the mission?" Kakashi said, clearing his voice to draw the attention away from Narutos loud stupidity. After a few seconds (all of which were marked by the creaking and groaning of wood, most likely the desk under the grip of Tsunade), Tsunade follows suite and clears her own.

"Now, I have been told by some of our scouts that there is a small group of shinobi who have yet to be identified seen near our borders to the north. The group saw them engaging a small band of sound Nin, and they used many jutsu known to Kumogakure. It is possible that they are a scout group from Kumogakure to test our defenses. However, they display the skill of genin, so it is considered a C-class mission. Now..."

At that moment, Naruto let out a loud whoop in happiness (ignoring the glares he received from Sasuke and Sakura) at such a mission. Not only would he be able to get out of the town, but he also would be facing up against easy genins this time around! No more having to worry about anyone like Kiba or Neji! Tsunades twitching eyes return, but she manages to keep her composure and continues.

"…ANYWAYS…like I told you this will be considered a C-class mission. However, it is important that you simply watch them. You are to keep tabs on them at all times, but avoid combat. This is reconnaissance."

"Uh…" Naruto said with his confusion obvious, "Tsunade-obachan, what does that mean?"

Tsunade looks at him almost incredulously, then to Kakashi.

"That big word you used. What does it mean?"

Tsunade could only shake her head at the blonde fool in front of her. Only he would have enough gaul to ask a question like that in the middle of a mission briefing.

"It means we watch them, IDIOT!" Sakura yelled as she swung her fist into the back of his head. After the contact (which made even Kakashi flinch) Naruto moaned aloud as the lump where she had hit grew bigger and bigger. Naruto gave Sakura a pained look for the hit and sat down, the whole time grumbling.

"Now, I want to make it clear: this is reconnaissance. Do not engage the team unless you are attacked first. Is that understood?" Tsunade asked.

Sakura nodded. Sasuke didn't say anything. Naruto groaned as he rubbed his head.

'I guess that's the best I can get out of them for now,' thought Tsunade as she unconsciously rubbed her head. Tsunade nodded to Kakashi, who then ushered the team (with varying amounts of annoyance) out of the room. As soon as they were gone (and before Shizune could make an appearance, Tsunade reached under her desk and pulled out a bottle, with a label clearly (and loudly) labeled "sake."

- - - - -

In his excitement to be leaving Konoha on a mission, Naruto again forgot the first rule of Kakashi-sensei: when Kakashi-sensei says to meet at nine o'clock in the morning, he's going to show up at noon. So here he was, with Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan, just waiting at the gate. Sakura was stealing (or rather, _trying_ to steal) glances from Sasuke, who was content at staring at the gates in front of him, his hand idly going to the mark on his shoulder. Naruto was certainly steamed at the turn of events (not to mention the fact that Sakura-chan decided to ignore Naruto), and when the idiot sensei of his finally made an appearance Naruto was sure to give him a piece of his mind.

Low and behold, at noon, Kakashi made his appearance, his bright orange book in hand and walking at a leisurely pace. Naruto started to fume and opened his mouth to yell at the silver haired shinobi when Kakashi held a hand up, silencing Naruto before he could say anything. Kakashis face, once up from the orange book, was more serious then normal. Naruto waited for the worst...and was rewarded by one of Kakashis eye smiles.

"Sorry about that. I have a grandma in the hospital," Kakashi said, oblivious to the glares he was getting from Sakura and Naruto.

"You lying jackass!" Naruto yelled at the jounin, who responded by turning the page on his book. Naruto began steaming, but again Kakashi again raised his hand again, stopping Naruto again.

"Shouldn't we get going?" Kakashi said as he motioned to the large gates just in front of him. Naruto grinned happily at the sight, knowing that whatever that was going to be on the other side of the gate was going to be fun; this was going to be an adventure.

"Alright! Let's get going!" Naruto proudly declared as he began walking towards the gate, leading the way to the beginning of something new.

**END**

**A/N: **Now, the newest story in my whole "Tales" universe (the same place that Tales of a Would-Be Jounin, Requiem for the Rokudaime, and Legends of the Past. It has explanations for many things that had been alluded to in the two future fics (RftR and LotP) and will tie in to Tales of a Would be Jounin. Among the things found…err…wait, what am I saying! I was going to give it away! Why?

Jeez, I should know better by now! Any who, I hope you'll enjoy it!


	2. The Battle

**Fan Fiction Name: **The Gathering Storm

**Chapter Name:** The Battle

**Info:** After given orders to find possible ninja spies from the Hidden Cloud Village, Naruto and the rest of Team Seven are pulled into a world of intrigue and revolution as war is declared and a new village is founded.

**Disclaimers: **Narutoand the rest of the known characters are not my creations The rest, OC's all, are mine (or, rather, mine and my sisters, who came up with the blind one. You'll see what I mean.) All mine! Hahahahahahahahacoughsputterwheeze Give me a second…

**Chapter Two: The Battle**

It had been a week since the mission began. Team Kakashi had managed to find the former location of the ninja and had since began looking for traces of the team they were assigned to locate. They had found traces of a camp the third day. They had heard rumors from one of the small villages in the area of oddly dressed ninja (although many eyes drifted to Naruto and his bright orange jumpsuit) on the fifth day. But beyond that, the team was unable to receive any clues or hints about the kumo-nin they were trying to find.

This met with a variety of reactions: indifference from Sasuke, irritation from Sakura, boredom from Kakashi…

"Kuso! Where are these bastards?" Naruto bellowed from his place at the front of the team.

…and extreme irritation from Naruto.

"Naruto, we're not going to find the ninja when you're screaming like that," Kakashi said from the back of the group, as he fingered through his book. Naruto shot him a glare from the front, but then returned to sulking. Suddenly, his face brightened and he turned to Sakura.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, can…" Naruto started

"NO!" Sakura bellowed at a volume so loud that it even made Naruto flinch.

"But I didn't finish saying what I wanted to say," Naruto responded back, sounding almost hurt.

"I KNOW what you were gonna ask me!" Sakura bellowed again, moving closer to Sasuke in response to the declaration. Sasuke was decidedly ignoring his compatriots.

"Sakura, you know yelling at Naruto helps as much as Naruto yelling at himself," Kakashi said at the back, earning an apologetic look from Sakura (at Kakashi, not at Naruto) and another pissed off glare from Naruto, who turned his attention back to the road ahead of him with a pout.

Kakashi simply sighed at the whole exchange. This was going to be the beginning of a headache…

Suddenly, with a puff of smoke, another Kakashi showed up in the clearing. Kakashi turned to face it, while it earned curious gazes from Sasuke and Sakura. Naruto, however, looked startled at the new appearance.

"Gah! Somebody cloned Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled as he turned to face the new Kakashi.

"Relax, Naruto. It's a shadow clone," both Kakashis responded before they turned to one another and began speaking in hushed tones. Once Naruto had gotten over his shock, he began looking at the two. After a few seconds, the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. Kakashi turned to face his students, who looked on expectantly.

"He found them. They're about an hour away. Follow me."

With a flash, Kakashi was off. Naruto could only gape as the silver-topped blur that was Kakashi. Almost as if by a unsent signal, Sasuke shot off after Kakashi. Naruto scowled then took off after the two of them, with Sakura just behind him. After a few rushed seconds of running, Naruto followed Kakashi and Sasuke into the trees. A massive smile adorned his face as his chakra-enhanced feet gripped onto the heavy branches.

This was gonna be fun!

- - - - -

Little more than ten minutes after the beginning of the running, Naruto found himself staring at three nondescript figures in the distance. As best he could tell, there were two kunoichi and a male chunin. Possibly it could be an effeminate male shinobi, a kunoichi, and a male chunin. He really couldn't tell from here. One thing was sure: the kunoichi had deep green hair poking out from under the hood she was wearing.

Oh, and the chunin was big. REALLY big.

Naruto shifted his weight a little nervously, but then he turned to Sasuke, who wasn't moving, breathing heavily, or giving any clue to the fact he was still living besides the slow, methodical movements that signaled his breathing. Naruto, seeing Sasukes unemotional reaction to the shinobi in the clearing ahead of them, steeled himself and turned his attention back to the jacket-clad shinobi with their hoods up.

Jeez, weren't they hot in this weather? Those jackets made them kinda obscure and even made Naruto uncomfortable. The fact they were a deep blue color even made Naruto uncomfortable as he watched the three people talked in the clearing.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, aren't there supposed to be four of…?" Naruto began to ask, but he saw that his sensei had just disappeared. Naruto looked around the branches nearby, then began looking on the forest floor for the now absent jounin. He then turned to his fellow genin, who didn't seem to be paying attention to them. He waved his arms frantically, but didn't get the attention of Sasuke or Sakura. After a few more seconds of the futile flailing of his arms, Naruto turns to another tactic.

"Hey, where'd Kakashi-sensei go," Naruto hissed under his breath, knowing that he was keeping quiet enough to keep out of the attention of the kumo-nin. However he carefully (and quietly) said it, Naruto still gained glares from Sakura and Sasuke as a reward. However, Sakura curiously looked around and her surprise was obvious when she found out that Kakashi was absent. She shook Sasukes' arm to gain his attention, who then stared daggers at Sakura for the interruption.

"Where did…?"

Sakuras question was cut off by a sudden movement from the Kumo-nin. In a hail of glinting metal and swift offensive movements, the Kumo-nin had made moves against the three genin in the tree. In a flash, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were out of the tree and facing down their opponents.

Suddenly, an unusually chipper female voice came across the clearing. At first, Naruto couldn't hear it, but after thinking about it the voice came again.

"I SAID, who do you wanna fight, Sonno?" came the unusually girlish voice of the green-haired kunoichi, who was looking in the direction of the other kunoichi (or effeminate shinobi). If he knew better, it was like she was asking it the way you would ask another about taking someone to a dance. He looked to Sasuke, who looked to be just as confused at the outburst. After a few seconds, the voice again came, this time with ample amount of disappointment.

"Gah! Do you ALWAYS have to take the cute one? I'll take the blonde then!"

Now Naruto was hopelessly confused. But when two of them began running towards Sasuke (the short, effeminate one) and Naruto (the loud kunoichi), Naruto dropped into a fighting stance as the green topped blur came closer and closer. Suddenly it slowed, and began swaying in an odd way. Naruto could only watch as the blur slowed to a point that the movements looked less like running strides and more like…like…dance moves. How the hell did this kunoichi expect to hit him…

Naruto thought were knocked loose when the kunoichi came at him with a kick he didn't really expect. The kick had come not from the front or the side, but from overhead as the kunoichi did an odd somersault and lashed out with her leg. Naruto was about to launch a kick of his own when the kunoichi spun her legs and, in a move that Naruto was so unused to, had spun her whole body around on her hands and delivered a brutal series of kicks that knocked Naruto back and away from her. Suddenly, the legs swung again and Naruto was forcibly knocked off of his feet and a weight swiftly made his way onto him, effectively pinning him down. Naruto struggled under the shifting weight on top of him. Suddenly, the figure turned to face him and looked down at him. Naruto looked up at the person pinning, sure to memorize the face of the person he was going to beat the ass of.

In stead of a smirk, he looked up at a face that looked oddly curious. Amber eyes and deep green hair were the defining points of the head above him, but suddenly the person on top of him gave a smile that confused and infuriated Naruto even more.

"You know, you're pretty cute," the girl on top of him said in an oddly sweet voice, like they were on a date. Naruto only got madder at the audacity of the kunoichi on top of him. As Naruto began yelling at the top of his lungs at the kunoichi now sitting on his chest, he completely missed the rest of the fight, which was not going well for team Seven.

Sasuke had matched the boy he was fighting, but the speed and skill was just that to Sasuke: a match. He was becoming more and more infuriated at the fact that this person seemed to be matching his every move. What was worse was the fact that this person wore his headband _over_ his eyes, limiting his vision and giving him a handicap! The pride in the chest of the Uchiha prodigy was getting a serious bruising.

Sakura was by far worst off. She had sent shuriken at the chunin, who had almost lazily dodged them. He had then come straight at her, knocking her back with a body check that threatened to knock her out. Her thoughts when she saw the chunin, who looked to be no more then fifteen and had a rather boyish face, was focusing herself on the non-existent sensei. Where was Kakashi? Couldn't he see that they were getting killed?

The Raiton jutsu finished, the baby-faced giant charged her and shoved the Raiton jutsu into her stomach. Sakura would have cried out, but the ration jutsu had shocked whole system. She was blissful unaware of the series of brutal punches the chunin was hitting her with, or the skyward toss she was made to endure. The last thing Sakura saw before losing consciousness was a silver-topped blur that was now making it's way to the now turned chunin giant.

_Kakashi-sensei…_

**END**

**A/N:** Well, hopefully I ended this well. I'm not to sure if it was a good ending of this chapter, but I certainly hop that the second part of this chapter (ie Chapter three) will be closer explain a lot of what happens. After all, the fight may be sudden, but remember what they were told of these ninja.

Hope I don't need to do this again!


	3. Belated Introductions

**Fan Fiction Name: **The Gathering Storm

**Chapter Name:** Belated Introductions

**Info:** After given orders to find possible ninja spies from the Hidden Cloud Village, Naruto and the rest of Team Seven are pulled into a world of intrigue and revolution as war is declared and a new village is founded.

**Disclaimers: **Narutoand the rest of the known characters are not my creations The rest, OC's all, are mine (or, rather, mine and my sisters, who came up with the blind one. You'll see what I mean.) All mine! Hahahahahahahahacoughsputterwheeze Give me a second…

**Chapter Three: Belated Introductions**

Hatake Kakashi could only curse himself for his lapse in judgment. He had noticed that there was one person missing from the group that was now in the clearing ahead of him. He had gone off to try to find the last member, but it looked like the person in question really wasn't in the area. He had hoped to be gone and back before anything bad had happened. He cursed silently as he ran towards where he had left his team, and when he had arrived what he saw shocked him. Naruto was pinned under one of the shinobi and struggling futilely under the weight. Sasuke was being matched by the second one and looked to be growing visibly aggravated by it. But what shocked him most was to see Sakura limply flying through the air after being shocked, grappled, and tossed by the big chunin of the group.

He charged forward, catching the attention of the chunin.

Naruto, from his position under the kunoichi, was shocked at the speed that Sakura was defeated, but when he saw the silver-topped blur that had to only be one person he knew his demeanor changed. He snickered from his position under the kunoichi, who turned her attention to Kakashi-sensei. Naruto managed to use the distraction caused by Kakashi-sensei to get his hands free and create the hand signs for the Kage Bushin.

The kunoichi seemed too interested in what was going on with the big chunin to notice that now the area behind her was now full of orange clad genin. She could only gasp as multiple Naruto jumped up behind her and took her by surprise.

The big chunin's face went from smug to surprised as Kakashis fist came from a massive silver-topped blur. The chunin, however, did something Kakashi did not expect at all. Rather then dodge back, which Kakashi could easily take the lead of the attack and make the kid go on the defensive, he moved forward slightly and brought his arms up to grab the incoming punch.

Kakashi aborted his attack, quickly jumping back to get out of the chunins reach. So, this chunin specialized in grappling styles of taijutsu, much like the Akamichi.

"What's the matter, spikes? Don't you wanna get closer?" The chunin asked smugly, a small smirk gracing his lips. Kakashi could only sigh at the chunins brashness, underestimating a foe. With a sigh, Kakashi again became a blur, hitting the chunin multiple times to make surer the point was made. The chunin gasped at the speed, and immediately went defensive, but then Kakashi began noting oddities in the style: the way chunin moved offensively and defensively was strange. It was a fighting style that he was not familiar with. And when Kakashi caught sight of the headband, Kakashi instantly knew that this was a different foe then just Kumo-nin.

The headband, rather then the distinctive cloud style, had a horizontal line near the top, with a jagged line stretching from top line to near the bottom of the headband.

'Is he from another village? If so, which one?' Kakashi thought as he again looked the young man down.

"You done, already? Well, time to get your ass handed to you…" The young man said as he brought his hands up in front of his face. Kakashis visible eye narrowed as he sensed the chakra being concentrated in the eyes of the chunin.

"Ryuugan!"

- - - - -

Sasuke was growing bolder in his fight. With his taijutsu training with Kakashi and his now active Sharingan, he was now gaining the advantage in his battle. But, there was something bugging him. The way that the person in front of him was fighting told him that he could almost anticipate his attacks. It was like fighting a Sharingan user…but there is no way for it to be possible. The only people with it would be himself, Kakashi, and…

The momentary thought of his brother was enough. In the split second for the memories to flood in, the shinobi he was fighting had shot in and grabbed his arm in a way Sasuke wasn't familiar with. The moves now copied into his mind, he could only watch as his counterattacks proved useless and Sasuke found himself thrown to his back. In a flash, several long senbon nailed him to the ground through various parts of his clothing.

"Stay still now," the shinobi he was fighting said under his breath, the smallest of sneers crossing his face.

Sasuke could only growl in frustration as the senbons held him down, the uncomfortable way his clothes were stretching made it nearly impossible of him to move, save writhe around in sheer hopelessness.

- - - - -

Kakashi watched in surprised amusement as the chunin activated what he could only guess was a bloodline limit. Seeing the chunins motions, he seemed far more aware of his surroundings. In fact, Kakashi watched interestingly as the chunin had effortlessly dodged one of Kakashis own attacks without taking his eyes off of the silver haired jounin. The kids eyes themselves were glowing slightly yellow even in the light of the afternoon sun and a symbol had appeared in it that looked like a lightning bolt running through the middle of the eye.

As a test, Kakashi signed for a jutsu, halting at the last one while carefully watching the chunin for a reaction. The chunin simply braced himself for the attack, and made no moves to show that there was any effect like the Sharingan on. However, Kakashi needed to end this soon. Kakashi finished the signing, and multiple Kakashis flashed into existence.

The chunins slightly glowing eyes widened in surprise as the multiple Kakashis descended on the chunin. After a few seconds, said chunin is air-bound and was twisting to land right. That seemed to be his plan, but as soon as he touched ground the clone that Kakashi had sent underground surfaced and grabbed the chunins leg. With another toss, the chunin heavily landed at the base of a nearby tree and appeared to be knocked out.

But as soon as the chunin had been taken out, another blur had appeared and launched a rather sloppy attack. Kakashi lazily blocked to see the foot of the younger shinobi who was fighting with Sasuke. The one wearing the headband over his eyes. Kakashi just sighed as another kick, this time with more skill, sailed over his head. Kakashi shot his hand up and grabbed a hold of the shinobis leg, and with a quick shift of weight Kakashi sent the shinobi flying into the ground at his feet. In an instant, the shinobis headband flew off at the force of the contact and Kakashi was shown two startling facts.

One: Looking at the way that the shinobis face was contoured, Kakashi now thought it was in fact a kunoichi that now lay battered at his feet.

Two: The eyes that stared up at him half-glazed had the same symbol in them as the chunin, with one major difference: the eyes under the symbol were a milky white. She was blind.

"This is gonna take some explanations. Time to stop this," Kakashi said in a firm voice, stopping everything that was continuing in the field.

- - - - -

"Okay, since the whole thing started on the wrong foot, time to start on the right one. It's time for the introductions, between friendly ninjas," Kakashi said, knowing damn well it wasn't true. This was an enforced gathering by him. If given the chance, the two groups would go back to smacking the other around. In particular, the big chunin he defeated was glaring at him, and Sasuke was glaring at the blind kunoichi.

This was going to be a pain in the ass.

"Alright, I'll go first. I'm Hatake Kakashi, jounin of Konohagakure."

Instantly, the glare from the chunin wavers and his gaze shifts to the kunoichi. Both of the kunoichi shrug in response, before turning back to Team Seven. Kakashi motions to the focused looking Naruto, who somehow doesn't seem to notice the silence for several seconds. Once Naruto realizes it was his turn, he scratches the back of his head.

"Oh…sorry sensei. I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

"…Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke says quietly from his position, still glaring at the blind Kunoichi.

"…and finally, the kunoichi you oh-so wonderfully knocked out is Haruno Sakura," Kakashi finished, shifting his gaze to the big chunin.

The big chunin looked down, obviously, in Kakashis eyes, a bit ashamed at what he had done to the pink haired Kunoichi. He looked to the two kunoichi next to each other.

"Okay, well time for our belated introductions. I'm Miyazaki Kirasu, chunin of Hedukagure no Sato..." the chunin began, but he had stopped when he noticed the curious glances he was getting.

'_Hedu_gakure? That's not a word from the Old Language,' Naruto thought as he searched his mind for anything that could come close to making what was just said make sense. Apparently, Narutos confusion was apparent on his face.

"It's…a long story. We're from the north of here, farther then even the Land of Lightning. We're here to…well, to gather some info on the villages to the south. Okay, Yonei, your next," the big chunin (wait, his name was Kirasu) said to the green haired kunoichi.

"Yosh! I'm Takahashi Yonei, the prettiest kunoichi of Hedugakure!" she said with a wink towards Naruto. Naruto really didn't have a reaction to what had just happened. Did she really just…wink at him. What in the hell is going on?

"Stop flirting with him, Yonei," the blind kunoichi said from her position.

"Shut up, Sonno!" Yonei screeched in response.

"Now you know my name. Miyazaki Sonno And _you_, stop glaring at me," Sonno said, her non-seeing gaze shifting to the general direction of Sasuke. Sasuke intensifies his glare in response. Sonno "hmphs" and reties the headband over her eyes.

"There is one more of us, but she actually went to gather some supplies…speak of the devil. Deniira-chan, over here!" Kirasu called happily, motioning to something behind Team Seven. The conscious members of the team turn to see a third kunoichi, this one looking to be the same age as Kirasu. She looks from Kirasu to Team Seven, her eyes uncertain. She makes her way to the new team, her hands full of supplies and her eyes shifting to all the members of the team opposite her.

"Who are they, Kirasu-kun? Are they…shinobi who will work with us?" Deniira asked Kirasu, as her eyes rest solely on Kakashi.

"I'm…working on that," Kiarasu says, his face forwards but his eyes on Deniira.

"Oh, really. And are we in on this conversation?" Kakashi asked, his bored expression obvious. He didn't like to be left out of a conversation like this.

"Now, if we do _anything_, there is some explaining you need to do…"

**END**

**A/N: **Well, after _finally_ getting off of my procrastinating ass, I finally ship off the next chapter.

Now, on another note, if you think that the whole thing with Yonei is some kind of Mary-Sue, get off my back. She actually has a lot of basis in the character of Sonozaki Mion, and she has a, well, "flirtatious" personality. So don't go thinking anything bad…

Oh, and also, if there is an issue with Ryuugan, I tried to come up with "Dragons Eye", much like what is called in Tenjho Tenge. However, I had to go off of the phonetics, and I really don't think I said it right.


	4. A Curious Situation

**Fan Fiction Name: **The Gathering Storm

**Chapter Name:** A Curious Situation

**Info:** After given orders to find possible ninja spies from the Hidden Cloud Village, Naruto and the rest of Team Seven are pulled into a world of intrigue and revolution as war is declared and a new village is founded.

**Disclaimers: **Narutoand the rest of the known characters are not my creations The rest, OC's all, are mine (or, rather, mine and my sisters, who came up with the blind one. You'll see what I mean.) All mine! Hahahahahahahahacoughsputterwheeze Give me a second…

**Chapter Four: A Curious Situation**

Naruto was confused. Not the normal "well, whaddaya know" confused. Naruto was hopelessly confused. The type that makes you stammer and stutter at the whole stupidity of the whole situation presented.

It was a state that he was in often nowadays, and he really disliked it. So, here they were in the middle of a ninja battle, he had just gotten to get that damn annoying green-haired kunoichi off of him, and then Kakashi-sensei just up and stopped the fighting. With Sakura-chan knocked out and Sasuke-teme wanting to know what had happened in his stupid fight, Naruto wasn't alone in his questions of Kakashis motives. So it was time for Naruto to make his objection known, in the only way Naruto knew how.

"Kakashi-sensei, why did you stop the fighting when we were beating their asses?" Naruto yelled loudly from where he was. Naruto could see his sensei, which looked like he was having a serious discussion with the chunin. However

"Ugghhh…," came a pained moan from Sakura. Naruto jumped down, smiling happily as Sakura slowly opened her eyes…and immediately turned to Sasuke. Narutos face fell slightly as she smiled happily at the Uchiha prodigy and slowly began getting up without his help.

"Sakura-chan, do you need any help?" Naruto asked worriedly as the red-clad kunoichi shook her head, as if coming out of a daze. After a few seconds, she reaches for Narutos hand.

Before Sakura could say anything, Kakashi and the group of ninja finally made their way back. Sasuke glared at the blind kunoichi, who somehow seemed to be glaring back, after a few seconds, the green-haired kunoichi huffed in annoyance.

"Geez, Sonno, why don't you just stop that. It's giving me a headache," Yonei practically screeched as she glared at the Sonno. After a few seconds of silence, the emotionless Sonno turned away from Sasuke. Kirasu, the big chunin, sighed at the antics while Deniira seemed oddly silent about the whole situation.

"Well, I know this will take some explaining to do, so I'll fill you in on the way," Kirasu said, despite Team Sevens glare (granted, it came far more from Naruto than anyone else, but Sasuke was glaring as well) and the unenthusiastic moan from Yonei. A vein on Kirasu's head begins pulsating rapidly as his face starts to become red.

"Damn it Yonei, I expected that out of them, but YOU! You came on this mission of your own free will, so don't complain!" Kirasu literally snarled, immediately turning to the green haired kunoichi in such a blur that Naruto and the rest of team Seven were surprised at the speed.

Yonei simply gives and exaggerated yawn, which seems to infuriate Kirasu more.

Naruto can only watch in utter confusion as Kirasu charges forward at the green haired kunoichi, who, with an indignant yelp, begins a raucous and rather odd wrestling match between the two.

"Is this…normal?" Kakashi asked bemusedly as he watched the very chunin who looked to be so skilled suddenly make himself look like a fool by being provoked by the green haired so easily. The response came from the older kunoichi named Deniira.

"Well, it's a thing they do. Yonei knows exactly how to grate Kirasu's nerves. It's kind of a brother-sister thing," Deniira said as she looked at the two with rather impatient eyes. Naruto did a double take at the new information. The two were brother and sister?

"Hey, how are they brother and sister? They don't look anything alike," Naruto said. He really didn't see any kind of resemblance at all. Kirasu was tall, had slightly tanned skin, was heavily built, and had dark hair and eyes. Yonei, however, was almost willowy, with pale skin, thin limbs, amber eyes, and that bright _green _hair of hers marked her as someone of a completely different family as Kirasu.

"She's adopted,' came the stern voice of Sonno, who was now looking at the two with…well, Naruto really couldn't tell with the headband over her eyes. However, she almost reminded Naruto of Shino or even Sasuke…although it seemed to be more annoyance then loathing.

"Sonno, what the…ack!" Yonei started before getting rolled and ending up face first into the ground with her arm contorted in an odd way by a triumphant looking Kirasu.

"Ha! Got ya!" Kirasu proclaimed triumphantly from his position.

Naruto could only stare bewilderedly at the whole thing.

Yep. This was weird.

- - - - -

Naruto found himself in a rather odd predicament as Kirasu explained the whole situation. Apparently, he, Deniira, Yonei, and Sonno we're all of Hedugakure no Sato, which translated into "Village Hidden in the Storm." Now, it wasn't a correct translation, but it was because where they had grown up, storm was often translated as "hedu". It was because that was the original word for storm of the first inhabitants of the region…or something like that. Naruto didn't really listen to those details.

However, what he found the coolest was the fact that they were essentially rebels against the Raikage of Kumogakure no Sato. The Shodaime Hedukage (who was apparently Yoneis real father) led the rebellion against the Raikage when the Raikage had repeatedly ignored the requests of the smaller village for reinforcement during an attack on the village.

"What kind of attack?" Sakura had asked, but the question was glossed by a vague "it was an enemy." Naruto had looked on curiously, and oddly enough Yonei seemed to stiffen at the mention.

O…kay?

Now Deniira was taking over the story telling. She talked about the Nidaime Hedukage trying to find a sympathetic ear for his cause, and had hoped to talk the leaders of the lands to the south. So, the Hedukage decided to send his son (Kirasu blushed slightly at the remark) to lead a team of genin to participate in the chunin exams of the southern villages.

When Kakashi mentioned that the exams were held over a month ago, Kirasu swore aloud, causing Naruto to flinch back.

That guy could be loud…

- - - - -

Konohagakure no Sato was a large place, the largest of the five great shinobi villages and arguably the strongest of the five as well. One thing that remained universal was its immense size, which often awe-struck those new to the area. From the massive gates to massive buildings to the very faces of the great Hokages chiseled into the side of a large stone mount within the forest itself, most likely the core of a long dead volcano whose ashes fed the forest that now housed it.

Naruto may not have known much about the history of the village he called home, but he knew something about the reaction of outsiders. It was no different for the hedu-nin who were with him now as they walked through the main gates.

"This is…amazing!" Deniira exclaimed as she looked towards the massive stone monument of the Hokages. Her eyes were quite literally saucers as she saw the massive stone faces.

"This is amazing!" Kirasu said, his eyes drawn to the massive tower that held the symbol of the Hokage. Sonno, who Naruto could tell was not someone who seemed interested those kind of things, craned her neck, allowing her ears to take in the sounds of the massive village. Even that annoying green-haired Yonei was silent.

"Impressive, isn't it…Yonei?" Kirasu said as he turned around, his smile disappearing for a confused gaze. Naruto turns around himself, and looks at one of the oddest things he has ever seen.

Yoneis eyes have almost completely watered over, and her face is covered by what Naruto could only call a stupid smile. Suddenly she began giggling, and Naruto (not to mention just about all involved) began to slowly follow her gaze to whatever it was that she was looking at.

After a few seconds, the object of Yoneis interest became evident as a small, white dog wandered from place to place, in the very direction that Yonei was staring googily eyed at.

"Wait a minute…isn't that Akamaru?" Sakura asked.

Almost as if on queue, Akamaru perks his ears and looks at Team Seven. After a few seconds, Akamaru yips happily at the group.

In a flash, Naruto is barreled over by a green topped blur that is screeching loudly and all involved watched stunned as the small white dog is scooped up by the green topped blur. When Naruto is finally able to right himself, he sees Akamaru looking extraordinarily uncomfortable as Yonei had him in a rather tight hold.

Naruto had heard of those kinds of freakishly enthusiastic hugs. They were called "glomps," at least thats what he had heard them called before.

"HessocutehessocutehessocutehessocutehessocuteHESSOCUTEHESSOCUTE!" Yonei yelled happily as she continued to tighten her hug on the small white dog, whose' whimpers were going unnoticed by the green haired kunoichi. Kirasu gives out a groan in annoyance.

"Here we go," Deniira mutters under her breath until another voice, this one far louder and much angrier sounding, cut through the normal noises of Konoha and causes Naruto to cringe.

"Damn it! Where in the hell did Akamaru go?" came the brash and loud voice of one Inuzuka Kiba. Soon enough, the temperamental dog master appeared in a flash with Hyuuga Hinata and Aburame Shino is hot pursuit (well, if you looked at it correctly it was Kiba in a flash with Hinata soon behind him and Shino calmly following the two in a manner that looked like normal walking).

"Akamaru, what the…hey! What the hell are you doing to my dog!" Kiba yelled, pointing an accusing finger to Yoneis back. In a flash, Yonei turns around and appears to size up Kiba. After a few seconds, her face stretches back into the grin she had when she first saw Akamaru.

"Your dog, huh? Makes sense…a cute dog for a cute guy," Yonei says as she winks at the dog boy. Kibas face is classic: he looks almost like his head was about to blow off of his head.

"Wha…whaddaya mean by that?" Kiba manages to stammer out as he began to turn bright red.

"Okay, Yonei, thats enough," Sonno said as she began to walk forward. Yonei turns to give Sonno what Naruto could best describe as "puppy dog eyes", but when Sonno kept walking forward. Yoneis face went to an annoyed grimace, and, after looking at Akamaru for a second, she turned around and put the dog down.

"Hey, you, dog boy!" Yonei called to Kiba, whos blush instantly faded and he looked almost angry again.

"I have a name, you idiot! It's Kiba!" Kiba yelled, scooping up the now traumatized bundle that was Akamaru and tucking the small dog into his jacket.

"Well, _dog boy_ Kiba, I hope I can see that adorable dog of yours sometime soon, not to mention adorable little you!" Yonei said cheerfully before turning to return to the group. Needless to say, Kiba was speechless and Naruto was hopelessly confused at what had just happened.

"Yonei...," Deniira began, her hands crossed in front of her chest as Yonei had rejoined the group. Yonei looked at Deniira, then moved to a "thinking pose". After a few seconds, Yonei looked back to Deniira, her face showing a lot of confusion.

"What? What did I do?"

**END**

**A/N:** Finally! Fourth chapter is down and I am good to go. This chapter did not want to come to me, but about two days ago...BAM! It just started flowing again! I am so happy to get this done now...

Anywho, read and review!


	5. A Serious Dilemma

**Fan Fiction Name: **The Gathering Storm

**Chapter Name:** A Serious Dilemma

**Info:** After given orders to find possible ninja spies from the Hidden Cloud Village, Naruto and the rest of Team Seven are pulled into a world of intrigue and revolution as war is declared and a new village is founded.

**Disclaimers: **Narutoand the rest of the known characters are not my creations The rest, OC's all, are mine (or, rather, mine and my sisters, who came up with the blind one. You'll see what I mean.) All mine! Hahahahahahahahacoughsputterwheeze Give me a second…

**Chapter Five: A Serious Dilemma**

Naruto could only sigh at the whole situation. After managing to lose Team Eight, Kakashi had led the group to the Hokage Tower, and now here he was sitting here doing nothing while Kakashi, Kirasu, and Deniira talked with Tsunade-obachan. They had to simply stand there and do nothing. Naruto opened his mouth to voice his opinion when Yonei let out a massive yawn, cutting Narutos words off before he even let them out of his mouth.

"Man, this is SO boring!" Yonei loudly exclaimed from her position next to the bench, sitting on the floor. She idly stretched her long, willowy arms before reaching behind her and using her arms to audibly pop her back.

"...that's what I was gonna say," Naruto mumbled under his breath as he idly scratched the side of his face. It was strange. Naruto was normally the one to loudly voice his opinions and generally be annoying, but it was weird to see someone who was even more annoying and obnoxious then Sasuke. And yet this Yonei, with her loud declarations of "cuteness" and screeching cry, was getting close.

But Naruto now noted that the quiet was getting opressive, and something had to end it. And oddly enough, it's Sasuke.

"Tell me about your dojutsu," Sasuke said, his voice sounding extraordinarily determined. Naruto sighed. Great, now would be some long explanation of something that Naruto would have a hard time following along. And even then, with Sasuke simply demanding something like that, because he was the great Uchiha heir he would most likely get what he wants and...

"...no."

Huh?

Narutos neck cranes to see Sasuke look like he is about to blow his top and Sonno with a smirk on her face. Yonei simply let out a snerk at what just happened, making Naruto more confused. Sasuke snorts at himself and turns away from the kunoichi. After a few seconds, Narutos curiosity is piqued. Wasn't Sonno supposed to be blind, like Kakashi-sensei said? If so, wouldn't a dojutsu not work right, if at all if the person in question was blind.

"Uh...can you tell ME how your dojutsu works?" Naruto asked himself, trying to make himself look just about as innocent as he could pull off. Trying to ignore Yoneis hapless giggles, Naruto hoped that Sonno, who now looked at Naruto himself, would explain just how in the hell she was able to move around without any help...

"Well, since you decided to ask SO NICELY...I guess I could let you know," Sonno said while standing against the wall, smirking the whole time. Naruto made a small "V" with his hands while ignoring Sasukes glare.

"Well, the Ryuugan isn't a dojutsu in the strictest definition of the word. It does have an effect on the eyes, but in the truth it's effects all of the senses. It increases all the senses, much like the way someone can increase one sense by gathering chakra. Now, most people with the Ryuugan effects all of the senses, and with that it will allow them to see farther, feel, hear, and smell more. They could even potentially increase taste more, although it isn't used like that too often. In my case, I don't have access to my eyes, so the chakra that would normally flow to it instead goes to my other senses. With the increases in my touch, I can sense the vibrations in the air to tell where, while I can use your scent and your voice to essentially see where you are," Sonno said. Naruto thought she sounded a lot like Iruka-sensei during her little speech, somehow managing to get even his attention.

"For example, using the Ryuugan..." Sonno started again

"Wait, why do you call the Ryuugan? " Sakura piped up. Naruto thought for a second, taking a moment to figure out why Sakura would ask that question. After a few seconds, it came to him.

'Ryuugan means dragons eye. Why would they call it that?' Naruto thought, before getting shaken out of his thoughts by Sonnos continuation.

"Well, the Ryuugan gets its name from Hedu Ka Misi, the original name for the supposed sky dragon that lived in the mountains near our village. Hedu Ka Misi supposedly granted the Ryuugan to the ancestors of the people who lived there when the first settlers from Kumogakure no Sato moved to the area. In fact, my great-great grandfather Miyazaki Takano married the eldest daughter of the group and was accepted into the village. It was the beginning of the Miyazaki clan and their bloodlimit, which they translated from the original language of the region to the Old Language, which would make the bloodline the Ryuugan. Now, as I was saying before, with my Ryuugan active, I can hear all the peoples heartbeats in this hallway, a group of four coming down this way about to round the corner and...buzzing?" Sonnos face showed confusion at the last part, before she looked downward, almost as if to search her memory for something. Naruto only looked on dumbfounded as, just as Sonno said, four people rounded the nearest corner.

Who they were made Naruto worry more. It was Team Eight.

"YOU! What the hell are you doing here?" demanded the gruff, if slightly startled voice of Inuzuka Kiba carried through the hall, calling all the attention of the group to him as he almost fearfully glared at...

"It's the cute dog boy!" Yonei screeched before she got up and sprinted towards the dog-nin. Kiba simply froze up before the green-haired kunoichi was in front of him and began inspecting him, almost seriously.

"Hey...where is the cute little doggie?" Yonei asked almost innocently, looking coy as she looked down to the ground. Almost as if on que, Akamaru jumps from his hiding place with a yip and jumps atop Kibas head. After a few seconds (which pass painfully slow in Narutos mind) Yonei let out a high pitched squeal that almost made Narutos eyes bleed.

"The puppy is riding on your head! Thats...so...CUTE!!!!!" Yonei squeals again, reaching at a pitch Naruto thought not possible for a human. And before Naruto could speak up, Yonei had again become a blur, roughly grabbing the sleeve of his jacket and dragging him to Kibas side, leaving both dumbstruck.

"Here she goes again," Sonno mutters from her position.

Naruto goes to ask what that meant, but then he notices Yonei looking at him, then at Kiba, much in the way he saw people looking at the meat for sale at butchers. He lokoed to Kiba, hoping for an answer. But judging by the dog users horrified and confused reaction, Kiba did not have a clue either. Narutos attention went back to Yonei, who was pacing back and forth in front of them, muttering something about "cute whiskers" and "puppy dogs". Naruto again looked to Kiba, then to Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke looked almost amused, while Sakura looked dumbfounded before dubly shrugging.

"All right! I've made my decision..." Yonei loudly declares, startling Naruto out of his thoughts.

"I think...YOU are cuter!" Yonei proclaims loudly, as she points one her fingers in the general direction of Kiba. Kiba begins stammering loudly, as Kurenai, nearly forgotten within the whole escapade involing her brash student and some foreign kunoichi, clears her throat loudly.

"Well, regardless of what you think of my students physical being, young lady, I must ask you to stop this. We're about to go on a mission," She said, the smallest of smirks hinting across her face. Yonei pouted at the words from the red-eyed jounin while Kiba sighed.

- - - - -

"You do realize what you are asking of our village, correct?" The current Hokage of Konohagakure, Tsunade of the Legendary Sannin said, her hands reaching for her brow in a futile attempt to fight off the coming headache. What the young man in front of her said was certainly something that shouldn't be taken lightly. Should she do what they requested, it could easily sour the already weak peace between Kumogakure and Konoha. Should she not, this small village which, judging from the reports and the villages capability to fend of Kumo as long as it had, was simply brimming with massive amounts of potential.

She really needed a drink right now.

"So, Hokage-sama, what is your decision?" came the eager voice of the male chuunin...Kirasu, as he had an equally eager look on his face. The face of someone looking at what could be quite possibly the last hope of all he cared about. This older chunin almost reminded her of Naruto...just more affluent with his word use. The boy was smart, but in the end he had a lot of faith in her...faith that seemed a bit too off base. She really needed to think about this, long and hard.

"I...must give this serious thought. You are asking me to acknowledge your village, possibly drawing the ire of Kumogakure because of their relationship with your village. This is, by even the weakest of definitions, a problem. Because of this, I must confide with the elders. Until then, you are invited to stay here, in Konoha, until we have made our decision," Tsunade finished, trying to ignore the fact that Kirasu seemed to almost sag in his seat at the news. The kunoichi, having been mostly quiet, began looking more and more agitated at the news.

"You do know that with each day delayed, you are tightening Kumo's noose around our villages neck," Deniira all but hissed at the sannin before rubbing the chuunins arm sympathetically. After a few seconds, the chuunin got up himself and walked toward the door, looked all but defeated.

_If only you two knew how hard this kind of decision was on me_, Tsunade thought sadly as she sat back down. After a few seconds, Shizune, Kakashi, and Jiraiya made their way to her desk.

"Keep an eye on them, Kakashi. I need to make sure they aren't lying. Shizune, try to set up a date where I can talk to the elders about this. And Jiraiya..." Tsunade stopped, considering what the perverted Toad Sannin could possibly do for her.

"...get me some sake. The stongest you can find."

**END**

**A/N:** ahhh, finally a chapter that goes out as planned Since it is now time for my normal after-story notes, and this time I have a doozy. It is about Narutos intellect.

Naruto is, by all accounts and impressions, a stubborn, determined, and particularly motivated person who has freakishly strong bonds with those who befriend him (Look nowhere else than to Iruka, my third favorite character of Naruto) but seems to lack brainpower. However, I am not one to believe that...wholly, anyway. I am one to believe that he actually is rather intelligent. My first example would easily be the use of his shadow clones (or kage bunshin, of you were particular) from just about any story arc: How he henges two of his clones into shuriken while in the Wave Country, how he uses them to blow out of the snake, how he uses them against Neji, then Gaara, then Sasuke. My second example would be against his fight with Neji. I recently rewatched the fight in English (yes, I admit it, DAMNIT. The dubbing pretty damn good aside from some of the main characters ie Sakura and Naruto, and Narutos voice-actor has gotten better, plus there are minimal "Believe its!" anymore, and now they are far more appropriate in use), and saw just how intelligent he was: Holding a clone back to trick Neji, who is simply a genius in his own right, into attacking a clone and saving his own tenketsu was genius, pure and simple. And using his clone to fool Neji yet again while he was digging through the ground? Again, genius. However, now comes the negative: Naruto, either through his isolation and lack of human interaction or possibly both, seriously lacks insight and has a hard time reading real intentions, even when they are right in front of his face (ie Hinata). He is loud, brash, and altogether unable to know what someone is really thinking. So, this would make him smart in the sense of creativity and usage of abilities, but lacking in common sense and insight. For all of you reading this who play D&D, he has a good INT score and a bad WIS score.

Hee hee hee!


	6. Through the Eyes of Foreigners

**Fan Fiction Name: **The Gathering Storm

**Chapter Name:** Through the Eyes of Foreigners

**Info:** After given orders to find possible ninja spies from the Hidden Cloud Village, Naruto and the rest of Team Seven are pulled into a world of intrigue and revolution as war is declared and a new village is founded.

**Disclaimers: **Narutoand the rest of the known characters are not my creations The rest, OC's all, are mine (or, rather, mine and my sisters, who came up with the blind one. You'll see what I mean.) All mine! Hahahahahahahahacoughsputterwheeze Give me a second…

**Chapter Six: Through the Eyes of Foreigners**

Naruto knew that Kirasu was on edge after his meeting with the old lady. He was tense, angry, and altogether stiff. When he came down, his eyes were burning in a way Naruto had only seen a few times in his life, but this time, unlike with Gaara, it was focused, intense, and didn't look to be easily abated. Yonei, Deniira, and Sonno were watching him carefully as the doors had opened, and as soon as Kirasu walked off, Deniira turned to Naruto, her face very serious before it softening in concern as she turned to face the retreating chunin.

"We need to let him blow off some steam. He really thought it wouldn't happen like this, and now he's so wound up it's scary. We need to get him a sparring partner, someone who'll be a challenge to him," Deniira said as she looked after Kirasu, who was walking stiffly and quickly through the crowd, which was giving the big chunin a large path through the oddly thick crowd. Naruto frowned immensely as Kirasu managed to escape his sight. He turned to see that Yonei was standing alone, Team Eight somehow slipping past his attention to the Hokages office. He moaned out loud. Kiba would've been a perfect partner, but then again Kirasu was damn good at that taijutsu he knew, whatever it was.

Who to pick...who to pick?

Bushy Brows! Crap, that wouldn't work. He was still out of it, what with that surgery Tsunade-obachan just did on him...who else would he know that would be good enough at taijutsu to give Kirasu a challenge without stomping on him, like Kakashi-sensei or Gai-sensei wou...?

Just then, Naruto had a flash. It may not be Gai-sensei, but someone associated with him. Someone who was known for his taijutsu just as much as Lee was, but for different reasons...

Hee hee, this would be good, and Naruto would have a front-row seat to this.

"Deniira, I think I know the right guy for the job. I'll be right back," Naruto said as he jetted off himself. Although he didn't stay around long, Naruto did see Deniiras appreciative smile as he jetted off to the one place he knew the person in question would be.

_Hee hee hee. Well, now I gotta talk Neji into this..._

- - - - -

Shinobi were taught to control their emotions, to not give in to anger, hate, or dispair. It would weaken a shinobis will, and even a single shinobi whos will was broken in any way would be a burden unto his or her team, and to his or her village as a whole. It was because of this that showing emotion was forbidden.

Right now, Miyazaki Kirasu was breaking several of the established shinobi guidlines, and he really didn't care at the moment.

Why the hell was he so naïve to think that someone like the Hokage would just up and say "yes, we'll support your village"? His father even told him that, and yet Kirasu was certain he would find powerful allies to help support Hedugakure against Kumogakure. But, no! He had to put all of his hopes into a woman who he thought was going to be the answer to all his hopes, and what did he get out of it? The long winded equivalent of 'we'll think about it.'

Kirasu snarled in frustation as he began mercilessly beating on the bark of a tree far enough from the village to keep the attention to a minimum. But, as his hands got bloody from beating his hands again and again on the tree, his frustration didn't ebb the way he wanted it to. If anything, he got more frustated. So he jumped away and did a Raiton on the tree in question. Kirasu knew it wouldn't do much, but it may help blowing off steam...but it didn't.

Why the hell did it have to end up like this? The whole damn village was relying on him, his cousin, his adopted sister, and his teammate, and yet he wasnt even able to get a straight answer out of the damn woman! Now here they were, in the middle of an uncomfortably hot and unfamiliar land, playing diplomat to a woman who really didn't seem to care about what happened to his family and friends! Now there's even a chance that everything he knew was in greater jeopardy than he originally thought, and it was all his fault. All His Fault.

All. His. FAULT!

Kirasu let out another snarl as he charged forward again, flashing handsigns as he charged towards the offending tree. As the chakra built up to create the jutsu, he swung his hand over his head and into the trunk, which splintered as the electricity and compressed air tore into the trunk. After a few seconds (and with the deafening roar of the loud bang that accompanied the jutsu) the tree slowly leaned and toppled.

As Kirasu breathed in and out slowly, trying to get his temper and breathing under control, he grimaces when he became frustrated again. This wasn't working. He needed more than just trees to work out his frustration. This stupid exercise wasn't doing enough to blow off the steam his encounter with the Hokage . He needed someone who would fight back.

- - - - -

This is stupid.

If Kirasu couldn't get a handle on his damn temper, everything he and all that the whole damn team worked for could be for nothing. If it wasn't for him flying off the handle, he easily could have requested another meeting to discuss the whole situation again. What she had heard from Deniira, the Hokage was taking the idea seriously. But, unlike what he is supposed to do in a situation like this, he blows his top and act like an idiot. But, thats not really fair to Kirasu. If there was anyone who knew Miyazaki Kirasu, it was her, Higurashi Yonei, his adopted sister.

He always took things lightly, but when he signed on to this mission as the leader he became freakishly serious. He was convinced that the whole village was on his shoulders...and, sad as it is to say, it pretty much was. The village NEEDED support from one of the great Kages, and the Raikage was a complete ass who was convinced that Hedugakure was simply a place to round up cannon fodder in his wars. Hell, even with the ninja of Hedugakure had things just like her brothers and cousins Ryuugan, the Raikage was still "interested" in the Byakugan (from what she had personally seen, obsessed was closer to the correct word) and paid no attention until AFTER the village declard independence. It was like when the Raikage summoned several of the key shinobi from Hedugakure in a mission that had been truly suicidal to anyone in the front lines, and guess what? All Hedu-nin in the front lines.

Only her true father, the Shodaime Hedukage, had survived, and he saw how cavalierly the kumo-nin had treated the shinobi from Hedugakure. It was sickening. It was why her father had led the fight against Kumo. It was why she had been orphaned only days after her birth. It's why his friend, a former comrade-in-arms from after the suicidal misison, had adopted her, although there was no way for her to get the Ryuugan.

It was a bit confusing to her. Sure, Yonei knew history...but that's because she was living it.

And now, here she was, in a hot place, and in a jacket of all things. Well, next time the cute dog boy came around, maybe she'll unzip a little, just to see what his reaction is. It's always fun to play with boys.

- - - - -

Why the hell did it have to come to this?

She had come with high hopes, much like Kirasu had. She had beena bit more realistic, but Kirasus optomism had been so infectious that she couldn't say no to him. Kirasu was someone who had that kind of charm, and the fact that she was the first person to ask to join him to go south made the idea all the more endearing. She was to be the team leader for his cousin and sister to lead them through the southern chunin exams. He was the one who, not only as a chunnin but also the son of the Hedukage, was to court the Kages of the south. Although they had been harried by a bunch of people who claimed they were from a village called Otogakure and "asked" (in reality, forcably demanded) them to visit their village, he was hopelessly optomistic when the next group of ninjas they found were from Konoha.

She tried to play the cautious optomist. She tried to tell him that there may be some issues that the Hokage may be wary about. But he pressedon, convinced that the Hokage was going to listen to him.

To see him so defeated in the Hokages office was heartwrenching. To see him completely lose it afterwards was a mix of frightening and infuriating. He always did this to himself, and in spite of everything he took it upon himself to take the whole blame! Why the hell did he tear himself up like that for a failed mission? She had been his teammate from the start, and he always did this whenever he didn't think he carried his weight.

To see him like thatreally tore at her gut, and she could only hope that the young blond kid who had befriended them would be able to find Kirasu a suitable sparring partner. He was way better than anyone else in this team at taijutsu, and thats's what he would be looking for.

Oshihiro Deniira rubbed her fingers on the bridge of her nose. This was giving her a headache.

- - - - -

To her, this whole experience was eye-opening...in the figurative sense.

She always hated that saying. "Eye-opening". Miyazaki Sonno was someone who had been born without normal vision has a far different experience. She had been pitied in her village, a failure born into a clan of such high potential. Surely, because she was blind, she would not be able to activate the power of her blood and become a shinobi. Although there were many in her clan that didn't share this opinion, the general populous looked upon her with pity.

And she hated it.

Even as she was pitied, she studied under the Oshihiro family. She excelled at elemental jutsu, and she had done something that most jounins are unable to do...and yet she was still looked upon with pity. The only person who didn't pity her were her older cousin Kirasu, his teammate Deniira, and her cousin, confidant, and (despite her annoyingly loud personality) best friend Yonei. It was only when a group of villagers had tried to coup against her uncle. They had come into the house, and they were gunning for Yonei, of all people. She had fought hard, but nothing was happening to stop them. They had cast her aside, and went straight for Yonei. It was then she could see.

Well, not really see. Her Ryuugan had activated and she was able to all _but_ see them. Since then, she was able to prove her worth, coming into the ninja academy two years later then most children, yet managing to pass within the top five fo the class.

There were few things that intrigued her now.

And this boy, the one who had met them in the street and later in the hallway, intrigued her. There were few times that her ears decived her, but as she heard them come up, she heard something distinctive from the taller of the two male genins, above the heartbeats, footsteps, and breaths.

Buzzing.

Buzzing like insects. It was muffled, but it sounded almost like he had a whole colony of bugs below his coat. This intrigued Sonno more than anything. So she set out to find out just what the hell the buzzing was. To find out just what exactly intruiged her so much.

- - - - -

_I hope this works_, Naruto thought to himself as he entered the clearing that Team Gai normally trained in.

Well, now or never.

**A/N: **Well, now comes more of the history of Hedugakure, and now a look into the thoughts of the visitors.


End file.
